Swimming Lessons
by justira
Summary: For the Kiss Battle Prompt: SCENE: A beach. Jecht definitely did not steal Braska's robes. This time.


Auron sputtered as Jecht dunked him under the water _again_. He came up for air, gasping, to hear Braska rebuke Jecht.

"Jecht, he can't swim." Braska's tone was just this side of sharp, showing that Jecht was testing his patience; _good_ , as he had surely tested Auron's. Auron clawed his hair out of his face where it had escaped his tail. Jecht was already too far away to shove.

Braska floated over to him, touched his shoulder. "Are you all right?"

Auron grappled with the water, trying to turn to face him.

Braska's hand latched on to his arm, tugged. "Here," he said, and swam with him until Auron felt the sandy bottom under his toes again. The relief was— it was—

"Thank you," he gasped, and Braska smiled. Auron would let Jecht almost drown him any number of times for that smile.

"Aw, come on. It's just a dunking." Jecht was grinning from over in the deeper water, flipped to float on his back with his arms behind his head.

Braska shot him a quelling look, then looked back at Auron with a sparkle in his eyes. His back to Jecht, he held up a finger to his lips, and did something complicated with his hands.

Behind him, the water around Jecht suddenly shot up into the air, a great big glob of it, with Jecht in the middle, air bubbles spraying out of his mouth. And then the bubble _collapsed_ , and Jecht fell squawking back into the ocean. Braska laughed, a thrilling sound, so rare and precious, and even with the burn of water still sharp in his throat Auron found himself smiling in response, helpless against it.

Jecht surfaced with an indignant, "That's not fair!" but then he was laughing, too, and splashing Braska, who splashed him back until Jecht closed in and caught him up in his arms, lifting him out of the water in a mighty heave and then letting him slide down until their faces and mouths met. Auron's face heated. Even now, it didn't seem proper, and yet—

"Hey." Jecht's hand was on his arm, pulling. "Don't do that."

And then Jecht's mouth was on his, a teasing nip before he pulled away. Braska cupped Auron's face, fingers firm and gentle against his jawline, and Braska smiled into their kiss. Auron was dazed, drugged, all of this so new to him, still; but he dared to put a hand on the nape of Braska's neck, pull him in to deepen the kiss and feel Braska's inhale come sharp against his cheek.

"Whoa there," Jecht chuckled. "There's kids somewhere around here."

Braska huffed against Auron's face. "Indeed. And it seems our swimming lessons are not going well, so perhaps we should..?"

"Hey, I thought swimming lessons were going pretty good," Jecht protested. "Auron barely drowned at all!"

"Small thanks to you," Auron shot at him.

"Best way to learn, buddy." Jecht elbowed him under the water.

"Nonetheless, I'm due at the temple shortly," Braska interceded. The heat of the day suddenly vanished, leaving Auron cold and sober. It had been so good, for just a few moments, to forget about the Pilgrimage...

"Oh those stuffed shirts can wait a minute while you dry off," Jecht insisted, undeterred. But he was already making his way to the beach.

Auron tried to use his arms to push himself along through the water like Jecht was doing. Braska noticed, and smiled at him before emerging himself, dripping in his underthings, and Auron's breath caught again in spite of himself. It felt so incongruous, the seriousness of the Pilgrimage weighing on him, the bittersweetness of it all, time-caught and fleeting, and yet he felt... He reached out, flailing out of the water himself, and Braska turned at his touch, the surf tugging around both their legs. "Braska," he said, unsure of where he was going.

But Braska must have caught his mood from his face, because he touched a hand to Auron's lips, stilling him. His fingers slid over Auron's mouth, wet, then trailed along his cheek, behind his ear, to cup his head and draw him in. _Live in the now_ , the kiss said, something Braska himself had only said aloud once but that lived with Auron forever, and he opened his mouth to it, let himself taste the sea-salted sweetness of it.

"Well, if we're doing _that_ ," Jecht murmured into his ear, and then he felt Jecht solid and sturdy behind him, his hands running over Auron's chest, fingers stuttering as his knuckles dragged against Braska's skin. Auron was caught between them, weightless for a moment, warm and flushed and endless. Then Jecht tugged Braska towards him, and Auron tipped his head back against Jecht's shoulder, basking as Jecht and Braska kissed beside him.

"Seriously though," Jecht huffed against Braska's lips, the breath breaking across Auron's hot skin, "there are kids somewhere around here." Jecht landed a peck on Auron's cheek before Braska pulled away to turn towards the white sand.

"Ah," Braska said. "Hmm."

"What?" Jecht said over Auron's shoulder, where one of his arms was still clasped around Auron's waist.

Auron craned to see around Braska. On the beach, their weapons were arranged as neatly as they'd left them, but beside them—

" _Jecht_." Braska's voice was dangerously even.

Jecht backed away from Auron, hands in the air. "What! I was right here the whole time! It wasn't me this time!"

Braska's gaze swept from their missing clothes back to Jecht.

Auron turned to glare at Jecht, except— well, Jecht really had been too busy trying to drown him to steal Braska's robes again.

A faint noise floated from the bushes by the beach. Braska stilled, as did Jecht, suddenly alert, and Auron was reaching for a sword that wasn't there before he realized that the sound had been a _giggle_.

Braska turned back to them and winked. "I guess it looks like we have time for another swimming lesson," he said, entirely too loudly.

"We've got plenty of time," Jecht echoed, and gave Auron a significant look.

Auron swallowed. "I suppose I really should work on it." His voice sounded strange to his ears, pitched towards the bushes as it was.

"Come on." Jecht grinned, and pulled Auron back into the water, Braska close behind.

* * *

"This was a bad idea," Lulu said, disapproval heavy in her voice.

Wakka giggled again.

"Put them _back_ ," she went on.

Wakka, hands full of armour and summoner's robes, cackled.


End file.
